Alleged disabled-parking-placard cheats appear in court

2 accused of faking illness to get placards

Updated 4:52 pm, Thursday, July 17, 2014

San Francisco's new crackdown on the use of fake documents to get disabled parking placards made its public debut with the courtroom appearance of a couple of suspects Thursday, and the tension alone testified to the seriousness of what until now has been not so weighty a violation.

The suspects - Guobin Qin, 29, and his mother, Qiaoyun Chen, 50, both of San Francisco - were in Superior Court to enter pleas to felony charges that could net them four-year prison sentences, but the hearing was delayed until July 25.

Usually, misusing disabled parking placards only leads to confiscation of the placard and a $900 fine. But that was before a push initiated over the weekend by state and local officials to try to stem the rising misuse of the placards.

The pair in court Thursday were apparently so mortified at winding up in court - and being captured on video by several news organizations present for the hearing - that Chen hid behind her purse and Qin pulled his sweatshirt up over his face.

Their defense attorney, Fred Baker, did not answer questions after the brief hearing.

The public has been getting fed up with parking scofflaws, officials said, leading the California Department of Motor Vehicles to initiate the crackdown that they are calling "Operation Blue Zone."

"This is something we are taking very seriously," said DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez.

Qin, Chen and Yessi Morales, 35, were arrested in the first wave of the crackdown, and more such arrests are planned, according to Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the district attorney's office.

Chen and her son reportedly submitted documents saying they were being treated by a doctor for a lung disease and filed papers with the doctor's purported signature. However, investigators said the doctor had no record of either being his patient.

Morales said she had arthritis, but neither of the two doctors she identified on DMV paperwork said they had treated her, according to prosecutors.

Investigators were tipped to at least one of the three by an anonymous co-worker, officials said.

Morales, who was charged with 24 felony counts, is out on $60,000 bail and quietly pleaded not guilty earlier this month. Qin and Chen, who each face four felony counts, posted $30,000 bail apiece and face charges including fraud, filing false documents, perjury and commercial burglary.

"These defendants were willing to perjure themselves for parking spaces designated for the disabled. It's disgraceful, and there are going to be consequences," Bastian said.

There are 454,000 disabled placards in use around the Bay Area, and a 2008 study found that 45 percent of parking spaces in downtown San Francisco were being used by people with the placards. It wasn't clear how many of those were breaking any laws.

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